A place to call home
by xx'Gothic-Manga-Girl'xx
Summary: Damon and Jeremy are both lonely and suffering from their pasts but when Damon unexpectedly becomes Jeremy's guardian will things start to change? Can they find happiness and possibly love? All-human AU. Alaric/Damon M/M Dalaric eventual!Jyler (Don't like slash? Don't read.)
1. Changes

**Hello one and all, welcome to my brand new Vampire Diaries fic! This is my first ever VD fic and I decided to give it a go after I just randomly thought up the idea for this one night. Dalaric is my OTP to end all OTPs in Vampire Diaries so of course I was gonna write about them! Plus I adore Jeremy (I hope he does come back at some point in the future) and his relationship with both Alaric and Damon has always been one of my favorite things throughout the seasons.**

 **AN: So just to get this out of the way right at the beginning I'll tell you the ages for everyone since this is an AU: Damon- 25, Alaric- 26, Jeremy- 15, Stefan- 17, Elena- 17 and Jenna- 30. I obviously do not own the characters, I just really love them.**

* * *

Upon hearing the knock at his door Damon Salvatore opened it, entirely unsurprised to find Jeremy Gilbert standing on his doorstep with a sour look on his face.

He took a step out of the way and beckoned the teenager inside, bending down to grab one of the bags the kid had brought with him. He put the bag down at the foot of the staircase and turned back to face the newest addition to the Salvatore house, who just stared at him in obvious displeasure. The older man merely arched a brow in response and scoffed when the teen heaved a put-out sigh.

"Welcome to your new home, you little punk."

Jeremy didn't say anything and Damon couldn't help but roll his eyes.

It had all started when Jeremy got into a fight with a few jocks from his school and the police had to get involved in order to break it up, thus ending with the brunette teen in the principal's office...

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

 _Jeremy, his sister Elena and their aunt Jenna were all sat in the principal's office at Mystic Falls high school._

" _Now Mr. Gilbert you must understand the seriousness of the situation. Not only was your safety in jeopardy but also the safety of the students surrounding you, not to mention the others boys involved in the fight!"_

 _Jeremy groaned, "I didn't even start the fight! Those assholes-"_

" _Mr. Gilbert! You're already in enough trouble as it is; I advise that you don't make it worse."_

 _Jeremy slumped back into his seat and crossed his arms across his chest. Sighing the principal turned to speak to Elena and Jenna._

" _Ms. Sommers, Ms. Gilbert I understand that this last year has been very hard on your family but there's only so much leeway I can give here. This is the fifth fight that Jeremy has been involved in since the start of the term. That's five fights in two months. I'm afraid that if things are going to continue like this I'll have no choice but to expel Jeremy."_

 _Both Jenna and Elena's eyes widened._

 _Jenna pleaded, "Please, you can't expel him. Is there anything we could possibly do to make things better?"_

 _The principal considered this, "Mr. Gilbert, could you please go wait in the hall? I'd like to speak to your sister and aunt privately."_

 _Jeremy grumbled and left the room without a word to anyone._

 _After the door shut the principal sighed heavily, "Do you perhaps have any relatives that Jeremy could go stay with?"_

 _Jenna and Elena exchanged a confused look._

" _Why?"_

" _In cases like this I've heard that changes of scenery can help troubled teenagers cope. Living in the same house that you lived in with your parents could potentially be causing Jeremy pain, what with it being full of reminders of your family. Like I said, something has to be done because if another incident like this happens Jeremy could very realistically be expelled."_

 _Elena panicked, she didn't want her little brother to be expelled or have him move far away, and blurted out, "What if he stays with someone else in town? Like a family friend."_

" _...That could work, I suppose. It would give Jeremy a reprieve from the constant reminders of your parents but still keeping him in Mystic Falls, where he has grown up and feels comfortable. Who did you have in mind?"_

 _Elena looked hopefully to her aunt but Jenna was shaking her head, "I don't know anyone that has the room to take in a teenager right now."_

 _For a moment Elena feared that all hope was lost, that Jeremy was going to be lost, but just then a name popped into her head, "Damon Salvatore!"_

 _ ***END FLASHBACK***_

"So here's your room. You can decorate it however you like and-"

Before Damon could complete his sentence Jeremy slammed the door shut, effectively cutting off any further conversation with his new guardian.

Damon growled under his breath and stalked downstairs to the study where he opened up the liquor cabinet and grabbed a bottle of bourbon. He picked up one of the tumblers on the desk, poured himself a generous amount of the amber liquid and took a long drink from it.

As he did this Stefan entered the room and leaned against the doorjamb. The younger Salvatore watched his older brother drink and shook his head, "Really Damon, drinking before the sun goes down? And with Jeremy just upstairs..."

Damon snarled at his smirking little brother, "It wouldn't matter when I drink, _brother,_ if it weren't for your little girlfriend!"

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

 _For a long while Damon just stared at the two women sitting across from him, trying to comprehend what they'd just said._

" _...You want me to do what?"_

 _Jenna sighed, wringing her hands nervously in her lap, "I know it's a lot to take in, Damon."_

" _So you're telling me that you need me to take in your nephew or else he'll probably end up getting expelled?"_

" _Yes. He's been in too much trouble over the past couple of months and this is pretty much our last resort."_

" _How would it even work? I'm not related to him."_

 _At this Elena chimed in, "Actually it's pretty easy. All you have to do is sign a few forms and Jenna can have you named as Jeremy's legal guardian. Please Damon, I know this is sudden but we really need your help. I don't want to see my little brother get expelled or shipped halfway across the country."_

 _The eldest Salvatore put his head in his hands._

 _Taking in a kid,_ _ **really?**_

 _He already had a little brother to look after- although Stefan would argue that point- and he wasn't exactly a model for good behavior himself, not that Elena or Jenna needed to know that._

 _On the other hand, he understood what it was like to lose your parents at a young age. He understood what it was like to feel so lonely, even when you had people around you. He knew how easy it was to let your emotions get the best of you when it felt like everything was falling apart. He didn't want Jeremy to ruin his future over making mistakes while acting out in his grief..._

" _I'll do it."_

 _Jenna, Elena and especially Stefan were surprised by the quiet but determined answer._

 _The women's faces broke out in identical relieved smiles and they both began to profusely thank the blue-eyed young man for agreeing to help Jeremy._

 _Jenna pulled out all the paperwork for Damon to sign but made a few things clear as he started to fill them out._

 _Number one: If Jeremy didn't start improving within a couple of months then they'd have to figure something else out, even if it meant sending Jeremy off to Colorado._

 _Number two: Jeremy was to join her and Elena for dinner at least once a week._

 _And number three: He could stay over on weekends whenever he wanted._

 _Damon readily agreed to all of them, just glad that there weren't more._

 _After he put his signature on the last page the older woman let out a sigh of relief and smiled thankfully at Damon, "We'll drop him off on Friday after school. Thanks again for agreeing to this, Damon."_

 _ ***END FLASHBACK***_

Damon started preparing dinner at around 5:30.

Stefan had left half an hour ago for a date with Elena. They'd be out until late so that just left Damon and Jeremy to eat together.

He decided on something simple, it had been a long day and he didn't want to spend too long cooking. Pasta and a Caesar salad with a couple pieces of garlic bread sounded perfect.

It took about half an hour for him to put everything together, he just went with a simple meat sauce for the pasta, and he left the pasta and the garlic bread on the stove to keep warm while he went upstairs to fetch Jeremy for dinner.

A heavy ball of nervousness settled in his stomach as he climbed the staircase.

He took a deep breath when he reached the door and knocked gently, "Jeremy? Dinner's ready."

* * *

There was no response for a long time and Damon prepared to knock again, thinking that maybe Jeremy had fallen asleep or something, when he heard the muffled reply through the door, "Not hungry."

The dark-haired man sighed, "You haven't eaten in hours, kid."

This time there was no response at all, even after he waited a few minutes, and Damon began to get frustrated, "Look Jeremy, this can be easy or it can be hard. Now you can either come out or I'll just unlock the door and drag you downstairs myself. I'm not gonna let you starve yourself just because you feel like pouting all night."

There was another long silence and Damon was prepared to just give up entirely when the door swung open to reveal a stormy faced Jeremy who silently stalked past him and down the stairs.

Holding back another heavy sigh Damon followed the brunette downstairs and went over to the stove to get the food, placing it on the island alongside the plates and utensils he'd set out earlier.

They served themselves in tense silence and they ate like that for a while before Damon couldn't take it any longer and decided to attempt conversation.

"So uh... how do you like your room?"

Jeremy glanced up at him with an unimpressed look, "'s fine."

"Did you get anything unpacked yet?"

Jeremy just answered with a grunt and didn't bother looking up from his plate.

The awkward, stilted conversation (if it could even be called that) continued for another five minutes before Jeremy put his fork down and pushed himself away from the table.

"I'm done."

And before Damon could say anything Jeremy was gone, disappearing back upstairs, and the sound of a door slamming notified Damon of when he reached his room again.

Evidently dinner was over.

Suddenly without an appetite, Damon pushed his plate away and dropped his head into his hands, "What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

 **Chapter one, done. So the chapters will vary in length, especially at the beginning I'm finding so far, but there will be 10 chapters in total. And I never have a very strict update schedule so this will just be updated as I write it but it should be quite regular with no huge spaces betweens chapters (I hope).**

 **Also just to let you know, as of the beginning of this story Stefan has lived in Mystic Falls for 6 years and Damon has lived there for 4 (this will be explained in later chapters, I can't give everything away right off the bat) and Stefan and Elena met at a party during the summer before the school year started and have been dating since. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Adjusting, sort of

Two weeks had passed since Jeremy had moved into the Salvatore house and not much had changed in that time.

Damon had been trying- with very little success- to communicate with Jeremy at every opportunity. Despite his efforts, every time he tried to hold a conversation with the teenager Jeremy would just give him one-word responses- sometimes a short sentence, if he was lucky- and then lock himself up in his bedroom.

Jeremy only really ever came out of his room for three things: food (dinner was still just as awkward, even when Stefan was added to the mix), school and going over to Jenna's for dinner a couple times a week. Stefan always gave the younger boy a lift to school as well as to dinner at Jenna and Elena's since he had an invitation to join them as well. Those nights left Damon utterly alone in the too-big house until around 9 when they came back.

This particular Friday afternoon Damon had to pick up Jeremy from school.

Jeremy had decided to stay over at Jenna's for the weekend for the first time since moving into the Salvatore house. Stefan couldn't drive him because he had football practice so Damon had volunteered to pick him up, drive him back to the house to pick up his stuff for the weekend and then drop him off at his aunt's.

The teen wordlessly climbed into the car without so much as a "hello" but Damon was, unfortunately, used to Jeremy's campaign to ignore him as much as possible.

But Damon, being Damon, had merely taken it as a challenge and continued to talk to the boy despite the monosyllabic or sometimes non-existent responses he tended to get.

Once Jeremy put his seatbelt on Damon pulled out of the parking lot and began to head in the direction of the boarding house before he broke the silence, "So how was school?"

Jeremy shrugged half-heartedly, "Fine."

Despite the teen's obvious disinterest in continuing the, Damon pressed on.

"How are your classes going?"

"Okay."

On this went for another ten minutes, until they were halfway back to the house: Damon asked questions and Jeremy replied with one word or a grunt.

As he turned the corner onto the more secluded roads leading back into the woods he remembered seeing Jeremy drawing in his room once or twice and wondered if maybe he needed a new one.

"Do you need to go shopping for anything, like supplies or a new sketchbook? I noticed that yours looks almost full."

Jeremy inhaled sharply and snapped, "You're not my mother, Damon! Leave me the hell alone. If I need a new sketchbook I'll freaking get one myself!"

Pissed off and more than a little hurt (although he'd never admit it out loud) Damon snarled back, "Fine! Be that way, you little brat."

The rest of the ride to the house, the time it took for Jeremy to gather everything he'd need for the weekend and school on Monday and the drive to Jenna's was spent in complete silence.

The car just barely stopped in front of the Gilbert house when Jeremy clambered out, bag and backpack in hand, and stalked up to the front porch and through the door without a single glance back, slamming it behind him.

Damon closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the steering, letting out a heavy sigh.

A few minutes later Stefan and Elena came outside and the couple exchanged a concerned look at the elder Salvatore's exhausted position.

Worried, Elena gently asked, "What happened?"

Damon snorted, the sound washed out and tired-sounding, "Little Gilbert was just being his usual sunshiny self, that's all."

Elena frowned again and exchanged another look with her boyfriend who watched silently as his older brother's shoulders slumped.

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm gonna head over to The Grill, I could really use a drink. ...I'll pick Jeremy up from school on Monday."

Stefan, unused to seeing his brother so stressed, immediately cut in, "I can bring him home. The coach said practice is cancelled on Monday."

Damon gave him a weak grin, "Thanks, brother."

He nodded to Elena and put the car in gear, pulling away from the curb and turning around to head back to the boarding house.

Upon reaching the house and locking the car Damon called a cab to take him over to The Grill. Yes, he'd been known to do some reckless things in the past but he wasn't stupid enough to drive drunk.

Two hours later and Damon was working on his fourth bourbon of the night.

He gulped down the last of what was in his glass and waved over the bartender, a young guy probably in his late teens with cornflower blue eyes.

The guy pulled out the bourbon Damon had been ordering all night and poured some into his glass. As he finished pouring he asked, "What's got you down?"

Damon took a sip from his newly refreshed drink and sighed, "I've got a teenager in my house."

The bartender laughed, "Your kid?"

Damon shook his head and raised an eyebrow at him, "Do I look old enough to have a teenage kid? He's not even related to me... My little brother's a couple of years older than him. He lives with me too."

He took another gulp of bourbon and continued, "He's a stick-in-the-mud though, doesn't act like much of a teenager. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that we're actually related."

The bartender chuckled as he wiped down a couple of glasses, "So you're having some problems with this kid then?"

Damon huffed, "I'm pretty sure he hates me, actually. From the moment we met it's been like cats and dogs whenever we're in the same room. I guess I don't blame the kid for not liking me, I've been told that I'm something of an asshole."

He gave the bartender a sardonic grin and waggled his eyebrows, garnering a sympathetic look from the guy before he moved down to the other end of the bar to refill another guy's bourbon.

Damon couldn't make him out because he was sitting in a darker corner or the bar but he could tell that he was tall and had short hair.

Raising his glass to his fellow bourbon drinker Damon knocked back another sip and mumbled, "Cheers, buddy."

* * *

 **Hehehe, I amuse myself by including little references from the show sometimes. I'm sure that you guys got it, right? Let me know if you did!**

 **Poor, poor Damon I do feel bad for making you suffer but I can't help it, the plot requires it! The next chapter will probably be up in a few days. Thanks so much for reading, I'd love to hear what you think of this so far.**


	3. Duty calls

The weekend passed slowly but surely and it felt like the longest weekend of Damon's life.

He had spent the entire two days fretting about the status of his relationship with Jeremy. It had become very obvious to Damon that the teen neither wanted nor appreciated his attempts at getting closer to him. The thought saddened him greatly and he'd decided to try at least one more time.

When Jeremy and Stefan arrived home from school on Monday Damon had attempted to talk to Jeremy...

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

 _The teenagers entered the house loudly, as they usually did after a long day at school._

 _Damon was in the study looking over some old maps of the Salvatore property that he'd found. There was nothing really interesting in them but Damon had decided to kill some time and read them just in case there was something important there._

 _He looked up upon hearing them come in and gave a weak grin when they passed by the room._

" _Hey, how was school?"_

 _Stefan sent him a small, sympathetic smile. He knew that whatever had happened between Damon and Jeremy on the way over to Jenna's last Friday had deeply hurt his older brother, although he'd never admit it. Despite their not so great relationship Stefan knew that his brother tended to keep things bottled up because he just didn't want to trouble others with his problems. It was a habit that made Stefan incredibly frustrated and yet he admired his brother's determination to always put others before himself._

" _It was good, thanks Damon. How was your day?"_

 _Damon shrugged, "You know same old, same old. I was looking through some of these old records that Uncle Zach had in some boxes in the hall closet. Nothing of any real interest though."_

 _The younger Salvatore nodded, Damon had always enjoyed reading and looking at things like that. He was naturally curious and he'd used that curiosity to absorb every little bit of knowledge he came across. That was another thing he admired about Damon (not that he'd ever tell him that to his face, of course)._

 _Damon cast a wary look over at Jeremy, who just stood at the door with his hands in his pockets looking like he'd rather be anywhere else, "...Hi, Jeremy."_

" _Hmm."_

" _How was your weekend?"_

" _Fine."_

 _With that the teen turned sharply on his heel and jogged upstairs, the telltale sound of a door shutting signalling that he'd reached his bedroom._

 _Damon let out a heavy sigh and slumped into the chair behind the desk in the study._

 _Stefan frowned sympathetically and gently clapped his brother's shoulder before heading up to his own room to work on his homework._

 _ ***END FLASHBACK***_

And the occupants of the Salvatore boarding house returned to their usual routine after that: Damon and Stefan speaking to each other civilly but sparingly and Jeremy joining them for meals only and barely speaking a word, especially to Damon.

That suited Damon just fine... _really,_ it did.

If he was being honest with himself, Damon would admit that it really did hurt that Jeremy refused to open up to him. He was just trying to help the kid, he wanted him to feel safe and have a home. And yet every time he'd tried to bridge the gap between them, somehow it only ended up getting bigger.

Nonetheless he'd decided to respect Jeremy's wish and resolved to only speak to the teen to wake him up in the mornings for school or to call him for meals.

* * *

The week passed rather uneventfully.

Damon didn't have a job- he didn't need one, what with the vast family fortune that he and Stefan were the sole heirs to- but he kept busy. He spent a lot of time in the boarding house's library, reading through various old books that had piled up throughout the generations. There was a variety of topics and genres to be found in the library and Damon rather enjoyed learning new things from them.

He exercised regularly and took walks through the woods that were on the Salvatore property. He had also recently become a member of the Mystic Falls Founder's Council. He often helped out at various functions in town like bake sales, festivals and the like; he'd even been roped into chaperoning a school dance once when Liz Forbes had been unable to.

On Thursday afternoon Damon was lazing on the couch, having just finished working out, and was flipping through the channels trying to find something good to watch. As he passed by another crappy daytime TV soap opera the phone rang, startling him slightly.

"Hello?"

The unfamiliar voice of a woman greeted him, "Hello, is this Damon Salvatore?"

"Uh, yes it is."

"Hello Mr. Salvatore, this is Mystic Falls high school calling about Jeremy Gilbert."

Damon's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Jeremy? What is it, did something happen to him?"

"No sir, Mr. Gilbert's history teacher has requested meeting with his guardian about a matter regarding his coursework. In the past these matters have been handled by his aunt Jenna Sommers but according to our records you have recently been made Mr. Gilbert's primary guardian, correct?"

"Yes, I have. So when do I have to come in?"

"Well Mr. Saltzman said that this matter is something he wants to deal with as soon as possible so if it's possible, would you be able to make it in today?"

Damon checked the clock on the microwave and found it to be just past 1:00, "Yeah, today works fine for me."

"Perfect, I'll notify Mr. Saltzman that you'll be coming. He said that if you were able to come today he would hold Jeremy back after class until you get here."

"Okay."

"When you get here you can just come straight in to the main office and someone will direct you to Mr. Saltzman's classroom."

"Alright, thanks for letting me know. Goodbye."

"No problem, Mr. Salvatore. We'll be seeing you later."

Damon hung up, feeling very off balance after being notified that he was being called in on a matter regarding Jeremy.

He briefly wondered how Jeremy would react upon seeing him at the school later and snickered at the thought. If the kid got himself in some sort of trouble then Damon had absolutely no problem embarrassing him at his own school.

It wasn't like things could get any worse between them after all.

* * *

Damon arrived at the high school at about 2:30, he'd waited a little while before leaving so that the bulk of the traffic leaving the school with dwindle out by the time he got there.

He was truly curious as to what Jeremy had done to warrant his guardian being called but he just hoped that it wasn't something that would put the teen in danger of being expelled for the second time in a month.

As he'd been instructed by the woman who'd called the house earlier, Damon went into the main office and approached the secretary's desk.

"Yeah hi, my name is Damon Salvatore. I got a call earlier today about meeting with Mr. Saltzman to talk about Jeremy Gilbert."

The secretary- a kind looking woman with light hair who looked to be in her mid 40's- smiled, "Yes Mr. Salvatore, how are you? I'm Mrs. Brooks, the school's secretary; I was the one who called you."

Damon smiled back at the kindly woman, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Brooks. So where do I go to get to Jeremy's history class from here?"

"Just go down the hall to your left here and turn right at the first hallway, it's the third classroom on the left. Room 113."

Damon nodded and shot her a grateful smile, "Thank you. Have a nice day."

"You too!"

Damon wandered down the hallway and looked amusedly around at all the banners and posters decorating the walls, all of them focussing on one activity or another coming up in the school. After lingering to look at them all he finally reached Room 113.

He decided not to bother knocking and just opened the door. He was greeted by the sight of Jeremy slumped down in one of the front desks with a frown on his face while an attractive man with sandy blonde hair leaned against the teacher's desk with an eyebrow raised at the teen.

Both males looked up at the sound of the door shutting behind him and Jeremy's scowl immediately melted into a comical look of surprise and confusion when he saw the dark haired man standing there.

" _Damon?!"_

Pulling his gaze away from the tall blonde with steely blue eyes Damon cocked an eyebrow at the teen and huffed, "What the hell did you do now, kid?"

* * *

 **Well there's chapter 3! I hope you guys are enjoying this so far, I'd really like to hear what you think. I'm actually kind of concerned about this story because I can't see how many hits it's been getting since FF's view counters have been frozen for me (and obviously for many others) for days, I hope they fix it soon. Anyways for those of you who have been liking the story so far I thank you for reading!**


	4. Meeting Alaric

Jeremy's expression morphed instantly from shocked back to pissed off as he snapped, "Why are you here?"

Damon chuckled and replied vaguely, "The school called the house." His gaze sharpened and he pinned the teenager with a hard look, "And don't try to change the subject. Why did there have to be a call in the first place?"

Jeremy opened his mouth to reply but he was cut off by the blonde man clearing his throat.

Damon turned to look at the other man and gave him a onceover. He was tall- at least a good four inches taller than Damon himself- with short, sandy blonde hair, stubble lined his strong jaw, he had incredible stormy blue eyes, his body was nicely sculpted with strong looking arms and he was very, _very_ attractive.

As Damon ogled, the man before him held out his hand as he introduced himself, "Hi I'm Alaric Saltzman, Jeremy's history teacher. And you're... Jeremy's older brother?"

Both Damon and Jeremy snorted at the teacher's unsure words and shot each other a glance immediately after.

Damon smirked at the taller man and shook his head, shaking his hand at the same time, "I'm not the kid's brother; I'm just his guardian right now."

Alaric's confused expression only worsened, "Okay... What's your name again?"

Damon gasped, "Ah! Sorry about that. Damon Salvatore, nice to meet you."

"Alright Damon, how about we take a seat and talk?"

Damon dropped gracefully into another seat, just barely restraining the urge he had to put his feet up on the desk- old habits die hard. Alaric pulled out the chair from behind his desk and sat directly facing Jeremy and Damon, a serious expression settling over his features.

Damon shifted a little in the seat and grinned a little bit, trying to dissipate the tense atmosphere that had suddenly settled in the room, "So this is the part where you tell me what this little punk did to get me called in here, right?"

Alaric sighed, "Yeah... Today during lunch I was taking a walk outside because I had a free period and wanted some fresh air. I was walking by the football field when I noticed Jeremy by the bleachers. ...He was taking pills. And they definitely weren't allergy medication or anything like that."

The easy grin on Damon's face melted away in an instant as Alaric finished the story and his expression turned stormy as Alaric tagged on, "He also hasn't handed in any assignments for this class in two weeks."

* * *

Damon inhaled deeply and let the breath out long and slow to try and calm himself down before he whipped around to face Jeremy, " _Pills?!_ Are you kidding me, Jeremy?"

The teen in question sunk further into his seat under Damon's ferocious glare, as though he hoped he could disappear. No such luck.

Before Damon could say anything else Alaric drew his attention again, "I've only been working here for a few weeks after Mr. Tanner quit but I heard about what happened with Jeremy last month. I wanted to talk to Jeremy's guardian before I did anything else."

Damon nodded and turned back to Jeremy, "You almost got expelled a month ago, you idiot! And you feel like _now_ is a good time to take up pill popping?"

Jeremy grumbled, "It was just a couple of pills, what's the big deal? They weren't even that strong. And don't pretend to care you care about what I do, you only ever talk to me to nag."

Damon rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder at the history teacher, who was watching the exchange curiously, "I feel bad for you, having to deal with so much teenage angst every day."

Alaric chuckled and waved for them to continue.

"I only 'nag' at you, Jeremy, because it's the only way I can seem to get two words out of you. If you remember, I tried to be nice but _somebody_ shut me down."

The brunette teen scoffed, "Only because you didn't mean it! You only took me in because Jenna and Elena practically forced you to."

Damon groaned in exasperation, "I took you in because I _wanted to_ , you little punk! If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the most sociable guy in Mystic Falls; I wouldn't have agreed to take you in if I didn't want you there."

Jeremy looked stunned by the revelation- hell, Damon himself was surprised he'd revealed that- and stayed quiet.

Taking advantage of the break in conversation, Alaric cut in, "As much as I'm glad you two seem to be working some things out, we do need to get back to the matter at hand. Jeremy, if any other teacher had caught you with those pills today you would've been in the principal's office and expelled before you even knew what happened. I'm willing to help you Jeremy, you don't seem like a bad kid, but if this is going to keep happening then I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

Jeremy opened his mouth to say something but Damon cut him off, "Oh don't worry, I can guarantee this won't happen again. I'll keep a much closer eye on him from now on, Ric."

The taller man blinked at the sudden nickname, "Ric?"

"Yeah, Ric. Y'know as in Ala _ric_?"

"Okay... But if this happens again, seriously I can't-"

"No, no I promise that our little Gilbert won't do anything like this again. And I'll make sure he starts doing his homework too."

Damon gestured for Jeremy to stand which he did immediately and then made a beeline for the door. Before he could reach it, however, Damon caught him by the back of his hoodie and yanked him back to his side.

"I think you forgot something, Jeremy."

The fifteen year old moaned, "What?"

"Thank Ric for not letting you get your ass expelled today."

" _Damon!_ "

The older man levelled him with a firm look and cocked an eyebrow. Jeremy held his gaze for a moment before he gave up and mumbled, "Thanks, Mr. Saltzman."

The teacher grinned in amusement and chuckled, "No problem Jeremy. But you really need to start doing better in your classes or else you're going to be in real trouble when exams come around, I mean it. From what I've seen in your records from a couple of years ago you're actually quite a good student, I don't want to see you get held back next year."

Jeremy nodded and Damon pushed him lightly towards the door, "Go get whatever you need from your locker, I'm just gonna talk to Ric for a couple of minutes. I'll meet you at the car; I parked over by the football field."

* * *

 **And there we have it, Alaric and Damon have officially met! Thanks to everyone who's faved, followed and reviewed this so far, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. :) As per usual thank you for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter.**


	5. New Developments

After the door shut behind the teenager Damon let out a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping, "Seriously, thank you for not turning him over to the principal. The kid's already had a rough enough year without being expelled on top of it."

The dark haired man dropped gracefully back down into the chair he'd previously been occupying and leaned all the way back in an attempt to release some of the tension that had built up since he'd entered the classroom.

Alaric nodded in understanding, "I heard about his parents' accident from some of the other teacher's. But I thought he and his older sister were living with their aunt?"

"His sister still is. When he almost got expelled last month the principal was on the verge of expelling him because he'd been in quite a few fights since the beginning of the year. She suggested that maybe Jeremy go live with some other relatives, that it would maybe make it easier on him not to be surrounded by so many memories of his parents. They don't have any relatives that live here though so Elena kind of panicked and asked if making someone in town his guardian would suffice. The principal agreed and here we are."

The blonde's brows furrowed as Damon told him the whole story, trying to figure out exactly how Damon fit in, "So from what I've gathered, you had no idea about any of this as it was going on?"

Damon shook his head, "Elena and Stefan- my little brother- have been dating since the summer, which is how my name came up. Apparently their aunt didn't know anyone that could do it and I'm the only adult that Elena knew that had the space and means to take in a kid."

Alaric suddenly realized that Damon himself was quite young- especially for a guy who somehow had enough money to take in a teenager on top of taking care of his own little brother (he was certain that there was more to that than what he knew)- and wondered, "How old are you, anyways?"

Damon didn't seem fazed by the question and answered easily, "Twenty-five. You?"

"Twenty-six."

Damon gave the older man another appraising look and hummed vaguely, "Hmm..."

Alaric was tall, blonde, intelligent and all kinds of handsome; definitely Damon's type. But despite his attraction to the man he doubted that those feelings were returned. Damon knew he was good-looking- he'd never had any trouble in the dating department before, though he hadn't dated anyone since high school and even that had been only for a brief time- but he was sure that someone as handsome as Alaric already had someone. How could anyone turn _him_ down?

As Damon mused about his chances with Alaric, the history teacher himself only grew more confused about the situation despite the explanation he'd been given, "So after that they went and explained everything to you and you just agreed to it. I have to ask... why? I mean, you're only twenty-five and yet you voluntarily took in a troubled teenager. That's a lot of weight to take on for a kid you'd never even met before."

Damon shrugged shyly, a little bit unnerved by the intensity of Alaric's gaze, "I just- I didn't want Jeremy to ruin his whole life because he was acting out because he's lonely. I know what that's like."

Curious, and wanting to know more about the gorgeous young man, Alaric asked, "What do you mean?"

Damon shot him a rueful grin, "Listen Ric, we've only known each other for about half an hour so I think I'll hold off on that story. Plus I'd prefer to have some alcohol in me before I tell it."

The blonde nodded in understanding, "Well you'd probably better get going. I feel like patience isn't one of Jeremy's strong suits."

Damon laughed, "Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks again for all this, Ric."

Damon headed for the door but before he could reach it a large hand wrapped around his bicep and turned him back around to face the history teacher.

The elder Salvatore looked up at Alaric's face, suddenly all too aware of just how close they were. Their proximity made his throat dry up and his heart stutter in his chest.

The taller man stared at his own hand for a moment, as if he was surprised that it had moved, and then flicked his gaze up to meet Damon's azure orbs, "Um... I know this is kind of sudden but would you like to go out sometime?"

The dark haired man was stunned for a moment and disbelief colored his voice, "Go out, as in a _date_?"

Alaric gave him a large, sweet grin, an expression that made his already handsome face even more attractive, "Yeah. Is that okay?"

Overjoyed at the realization that his earlier assumptions that the older man wouldn't be interested in him were wrong he nodded eagerly, "I'd love to! Do you know the Mystic Grill?"

Alaric nodded, thrown by the dazzling smile that crossed Damon's gorgeous face.

"Perfect. Here, let's exchange cell numbers just in case we need to contact each other. Does tomorrow night work for you?" They switched phones and saved each other's numbers in their contacts.

"Yeah, tomorrow night sounds perfect."

"Great!" He winked mischievously up at the older man, "And maybe you can give me some tips on dealing with teenagers. I seem to need some work."

Alaric chuckled warmly, "You're doing fine, Damon."

Damon shot him a hopeful grin and started for the door again.

He gave one last glance over his shoulder and felt his cheeks warm in pleasure when he saw that the teacher was watching him leave, "See you tomorrow, Ric."

"Have a good night, Damon."

* * *

Damon walked towards the parking lot in a daze, trying to process what had happened in the past forty minutes.

Found out Jeremy could have almost gotten himself expelled again? Yep.

Unintentionally revealed that he cared more about the aforementioned teenager than he'd previously let on? Check.

Got himself a date with a hot, buff history teacher? Yeah... _somehow._

He had no real idea how he'd swung that last one but he wasn't about to question it. Alaric was probably the hottest guy Damon had laid eyes on in quite a while _and_ the older man seemed to be just as interested in him! The eldest Salvatore found himself feeling giddy at the thought that he had a real, proper date on the horizon, his first one in years.

He began to pull himself out of his thoughts as he approached the football field and he glanced around a bit before finding Jeremy sitting at a picnic table with his iPod on.

Jeremy just so happened to look up as Damon got close to him and his eyebrows furrowed when he got a good look at Damon's face. The older man's expression was a mixture of confused and elated, an odd expression that Jeremy had never seen on his guardian's face in all the weeks he'd been living in the Salvatore house.

He paused for a moment, unsure, before he asked, "Is everything alright?"

Startled by the sudden, awkward concern, Damon frowned, "Yeah, why?"

Jeremy picked up his backpack and shrugged as he threw it over his shoulder, "I dunno, you just looked sort of out of it when you were walking up."

They began walking towards the car, "Thanks for the concern kid but I'm fine. Let's get going, I'm sure you've got some homework that you definitely need to do."

Jeremy let out a put-off groan, making Damon smirk just a little bit at the teen's misery.

Without another word they got in the car and soon they were off, heading back to the boarding house.

* * *

 **Yay Dalaric has a date! In the next chapter we're going to have a lot of Damon and Jeremy interaction and Damon's past will be revealed. Thanks to everyone who's favorited, followed and reviewed this so far, as always I really appreciate it. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Changes for the better

The drive back to the Salvatore house was pretty quiet, not the awkward, tense silence of their usual car rides but more of a comfortable one. It was a rather nice change.

Eventually Jeremy timidly broke the silence, "So uh... did you really mean what said back there?"

Damon kept his eyes on the road but frowned in confusion, "Did I mean what?"

"About actually wanting to take me in."

Damon huffed, "Of course I meant it. Look Jeremy I get it, you're acting out and it's understandable after what happened last year-"

Jeremy grew angry as Damon unknowingly paraphrased the words so many teachers had said to him over the past year since his parents' accident.

Enraged, he snarled, "Don't give me that crap, Damon! Everyone says they understand but they _don't_. My parents are _dead_ , Damon, okay?! And no amount of people telling me that they understand and that it's going to be okay is going to bring them back! So don't sit here and pretend that you understand me, everyone else has been feeding me that bull since it happened."

Damon sharply pulled the car over to side of the vacant road, brakes squealing from the force. The street was very out of the way and thus didn't get much traffic this time of the day but Damon didn't care about that as he put the car in park and turned burning glare on the teenager, "Don't you _dare_ say that I don't understand, Jeremy. I understand a lot more than you think I do."

Jeremy huffed and rolled his eyes, "Sure you do."

The dark haired man sighed, "You ever wonder why Stefan lives with me? Why we've got so much money even though I don't work?"

Jeremy just shrugged, staring out the window with scowl.

"It's because both of our parents are dead too."

Jeremy's eyes widened and he turned to fix Damon with an incredulous look.

"Our mother died a couple of years after Stefan was born. Our father... after she died he was never the same and he got lonely and angry."

Damon inhaled a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly to brace himself for what he was about to reveal, something that he'd never told anybody. Not even Stefan.

"It wasn't long after she died that he started taking all his frustrations out on me."

Jeremy gaped at him, brown eyes wide in dawning realization, "W- What?"

"Yep, my old man beat the crap out of me because he couldn't figure out any other way to deal with his feelings. I was the easy target anyways; my father hated pretty much everything about me from the fact that he and I didn't share any interests to my being gay. Well the gay thing didn't come into play until my early teens but still. It was all too easy for him to take that first swing and after that he just never stopped."

Damon cleared his throat, eyes bright with unshed tears that he refused to let fall, before he continued, "The old bastard died in some accident at his work when I was 18. After his funeral Stefan and I packed up our stuff, I arranged for the house to be sold and we came to Mystic Falls. I was born here, actually, so this was the only place that I could think to go after he died. There are no other direct descendants to either of my parents' families so we're the sole heirs to the vast Salvatore fortune. The boarding house has been in our family since the 1800s; our uncle Zach was living there at the time so I left Stefan with him and I just... disappeared. After everything that had happened I just needed to escape, to not be _me_ for a while. I didn't come back for three years but when I finally did I decided to stick around. Uncle Zach wanted to leave and I just didn't want my little brother to be alone anymore, not that our relationship is all that great anyways."

With Damon's story completed the two occupants of the car sat in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts and memories.

Damon tried to will away the rush of pain that the memories brought and he blinked frantically to prevent the welling tears in his eyes from falling.

Jeremy merely stared at his guardian as he collected himself, processing everything the older man had just told him, and he couldn't help but look at Damon differently, in a good way though.

Their situations were by no means the same- Jeremy's family had been full of love whereas Damon's had given him not much besides pain and loneliness- but one thing was certain: Damon understood what it was like to feel what he'd been feeling for the past year.

* * *

"...Damon?"

Damon jumped a bit, startled by Jeremy's voice suddenly breaking the silence in the car, "Y- Yeah?"

"Does Stefan know... about what your father did to you?"

The blue-eyed man shook his head, "Not really, our father yelled at me all the time but he always waited until Stefan wasn't around or was asleep before he'd hit me. Stefan would see the bruises sometimes if I couldn't hide them but I would just tell that I fell or bumped into something. He was a kid so it was easy to convince him. Stefan was our father's favorite, the perfect son in his eyes, I didn't want him to turn on Stefan too so I just kept it all to myself..."

"Oh... Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry that I said that you wouldn't understand how I've been feeling."

Damon let out a soft chuckle at the puppyish expression on the teen's face and ruffled his hair fondly, "I think we might have just made progress here, kid. Can't wait until I tell your sister."

Jeremy went pale at the mention of his sister, " _Elena._ Oh God Damon, you can't tell her or Jenna what happened today! If they find out they'll freak and send me off to Colorado-"

Damon raised a hand to quiet him, "Don't worry kid, I won't tell them about today. But you have to promise me that you'll _never_ do something like this again _and_ that you'll start getting on top of stuff for your classes."

The brunette nodded enthusiastically, "Deal! Seriously Damon, thank you so much. I know that I haven't exactly been the easiest guy to live with this past month-" Damon snorted, "Oh please, like you're an angel?"

Damon shrugged and grinned innocently, making Jeremy roll his eyes playfully before continuing, "Whatever. Anyways I want to apologize, you're actually not a bad guy."

Damon smiled and put the car in drive, pulling away from the curb, "Well then to make it up to me you can help me make dinner tonight!"

Jeremy gulped nervously at the sparkle of glee in Damon's icy blue eyes, slightly concerned for what the older man had in store for him.

* * *

It was just going on 6:00 when Stefan arrived at the boarding house from Matt's, where he'd spent the better part of the afternoon.

He dropped his bag and keys at the door and was about to head upstairs when he heard noises coming from the kitchen. As he approached he realized that the sounds were laughter and when he turned the corner the sight that greeted him caused him to do a double take.

Jeremy and Damon were at the island, his brother leaning against the counter trying to stifle more laughter as he watched Jeremy toss pizza dough into the air with very little success.

They were both covered in flour and a cloud of it flew into the air as Stefan watched his older brother affectionately ruffle the younger teen's hair after he failed to get it to stretch properly.

He was even more surprised when Damon began gently directing him how to roll it out from the awkward shape he had it in now to an almost perfect circle.

What the _hell_ had happened while he'd been at Matt's?

The last he'd known Jeremy and Damon were still locked in their silent battle of wills, barely acknowledging each other's existence and now they were making pizza together?

"Well _this_ is unexpected."

At the sudden sound of Stefan's voice Jeremy and Damon's heads whipped up to see the younger Salvatore brother standing at the door watching them with thinly veiled surprise and no small amount of confusion. Both giving him bright grins, they greeted him simultaneously.

"Right on time, little brother!"

"Hey Stefan, what's up?"

"Uh hey... Do you guys feel like explaining what's happened here? Last I knew you two pretty much wanted to tear each other's throats out."

Damon scoffed and waved a flour covered hand dismissively, "We weren't _that_ bad!"

Jeremy laughed as he washed his own floury hands and called over his shoulder, "Damon and I worked it out Stefan, don't worry."

Stefan threw the younger teen a doubtful look, "And how exactly did you manage that?"

Jeremy thought back to the long talk he'd had with Damon and all of the things the older man had revealed to him. He caught Damon's pleading gaze and gave Stefan an easy grin, "Oh you know, the usual way guys work out their problems."

"What, you found a boxing ring and went a few rounds?"

Damon laughed and shot Jeremy a grateful smile before putting him in a loose headlock, "Of course we did! Can't you tell who won?"

Jeremy snorted as he struggled out of the hold, which wasn't really that hard, "Oh please, I bet you couldn't wrestle your way out of a wet paper bag!"

Stefan rolled his eyes, unable to help the small grin at Damon's indignant squawk, and threw up his hands in defeat, "Well whatever, as long as it got worked out I don't care how it happened."

"Glad to hear that you approve, Saint Stefan."

Jeremy burst out laughing at nickname causing Stefan to roll his eyes again but he smiled nonetheless, glad to see his big brother looking so light and genuinely happy for the first time in a long time.

* * *

 **The air has now been cleared between Damon and Jeremy, finally! I really wanted this to be a mix of angst, with the revelation of Damon's past issues with his father, and the lighter side of Damon and Jeremy turning over a new leaf in their relationship and I'm pleased with how it all came out. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited and followed this story so far, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. Hope you liked this chapter, thanks for taking the time to read it! :)**


	7. Growing Relationships

Friday morning Damon stood at the front door and waved cheerfully as Stefan and Jeremy made their way towards Stefan's car to leave for school.

"Have a nice day, kids!" he snickered at his own words.

Stefan just waved back absently but Jeremy beamed and shouted, "Later, Damon!" through the window as they drove off.

A warm, happy feeling settled in his stomach and he didn't care how out of character it was for him; for the first time in years it felt like his life was actually under control and he was definitely okay with that.

* * *

Later that day Damon was getting ready for his date with Alaric.

He was actually pretty nervous; this was his first date in _years_. Ever since he'd come back to Mystic Falls his social life had become practically nonexistent outside of stuff he did for the Founder's Council and going out to drink at The Grill.

Alaric was the first guy who actually interested him in all this time, probably the most attractive guy he'd ever encountered; he was smart, incredibly hot, tall and Damon suspected that the older man had a similar sarcastic sense of humor as he did.

He decided not to overdo it and settled on wearing dark jeans, a black Henley and his usual black leather jacket. And if the jeans were one of his tighter pairs and showed off his ass, well that was just a happy coincidence wasn't it?

After he finished dressing and spent a few minutes making sure his hair looked good he made his way downstairs. He wandered into the den where he found Stefan and Jeremy playing a game on the PS4 both teens were entirely focussed on passing the other so they didn't notice Damon coming down the stairs until he spoke.

"Alright, I'm leaving now. I might be home late so don't forget to lock the doors and keep the front porch light on, okay?"

The teenagers just nodded and let out vague sounds of agreement; Jeremy was slowly catching up to Stefan and was entirely focussed on the screen.

Stefan spared a brief glance over his shoulder and immediately paused the game, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

Jeremy let out an indignant cry when the older boy hit the button, " _DUDE!_ I was just about to pass you!"

Stefan ignored him and continued to stare at his older brother, "And just where are you going tonight wearing jeans that tight?"

"The Grill."

Jeremy had finished grumbling about Stefan playing dirty and turned around on the couch to face Damon. He let out a low whistle when he saw Damon's outfit for the evening, "Well _someone's_ got a hot date tonight."

Stefan frowned and waved the younger brunette off, "Damon, a date? Please."

Damon narrowed his eyes at the younger Salvatore, "Wow thanks, brother. But yes, Jeremy I do in fact have a date tonight. And he is very, _very_ hot."

He grinned mischievously and raised his eyebrows, causing Stefan to let out a disgusted groan, "Too much information, Damon!"

Jeremy snickered as Stefan buried his face in the couch cushions, "Well have fun!"

Damon smiled and crossed the room to ruffle the fifteen year old's hair affectionately, "Thanks, kid. I left money on the island in case you guys feel like ordering something. There's also leftovers in the fridge. If you go with that second option try not to burn down the kitchen while I'm gone, okay?"

Stefan and Jeremy exchanged a mock-serious look, "We make no promises."

Damon chuckled as he grabbed his car keys on his way to the door.

Just as he opened the door Stefan teasingly called after him, "Don't forget to use protection!"

Damon flipped him off without looking back but couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when the two teens broke into peals of laughter just as he closed the door.

* * *

Damon arrived at The Grill just as it went on to 7:00.

He entered the restaurant and was surprised to find that Alaric had already beaten him there and had gotten them a booth near the back.

Just then Alaric looked up and caught his gaze.

The blonde's face split in a warm grin and he raised a hand to wave Damon over. Damon's heart did a little flip in his chest at the smile from his date and he quickly made his way over, shrugging his jacket off before he slid into the side of the booth opposite the history teacher.

As he settled in he looked Alaric over and he definitely liked what he saw. The blonde wore a navy button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows- it nicely showed off his biceps and forearms, making Damon's mouth go dry- and dark jeans. He could also see that the older man had a glass of bourbon; he without a doubt had good taste.

A pleased grin slid across the younger man's face, "Well you certainly clean up good, Ric."

Alaric chuckled, "You don't look half bad yourself, Damon."

The waitress came over to take his drink order and Damon ordered his usual bourbon. He'd decided earlier that he'd only have one at the beginning of the date since he was driving himself back tonight.

After the waitress left to get his drink Alaric shot him an appraising look, "So you're a bourbon man too, huh?"

Damon shrugged, "I've been known to drink anything in a pinch but bourbon will always be the go-to for me."

Alaric grinned, "Well I think this date is starting off pretty well, don't you?"

The waitress came back with Damon's bourbon and said she'd give them a few minutes to decide what they wanted to eat. As she moved off to another table Damon raised his glass to Alaric, "I agree, Ric."

They filled a few minutes of looking through the menu with quiet conversation and ordered their food shortly afterwards. Damon ordered a burger and fries, as well as a Coke for after he finished his bourbon, and Alaric ordered roasted chicken with a side of fries as well as a root beer.

The food didn't take long to arrive and soon Alaric was watching in slight disbelief as Damon began making a sizable dent in the mountain of fries on his plate.

"Y'know for such a slender guy I'm surprised you can eat so much."

Damon shrugged, swallowing the bite of burger he'd just taken, "Fast metabolism. One of the few perks of being a Salvatore, I guess."

Alaric noted the slight tone of bitterness in Damon's voice at the mention of his family but he decided not to step on that very obvious landmine. It was their first date and he didn't want to blow it, he liked Damon. If he wanted a second date out of the gorgeous younger man he'd wait to delve deeper into Damon's past until he felt like bringing it up himself.

Damon, eager to change the subject after he realized what he'd said, started up a new conversation, "So tell me, why did such a good-looking, intelligent guy as you decide to become a high school history teacher?"

Alaric chuckled, "I'm also the football coach and it's kind of a long story..."

Damon finished off the last of his bourbon and picked up a couple of fries, "I thought the whole point of this date was for us to get to know each other? Now spill, Ric."

Alaric exhaled and grinned at the younger man, "Alright well, it all started back in university..."

* * *

Damon and Alaric spent three hours eating, drinking (soda of course) and talking and they enjoyed every second of it.

Damon learned that Alaric had been born and raised in Boston, went to Duke University (where alongside studying he had been the King of beer pong) and that the reason he'd moved to Mystic Falls was because of his interest in the town's history, the job as history teacher/football coach had just sort of fallen into his lap upon his arrival.

In return, Alaric learned that Damon's family was originally from Italy but they'd immigrated to North America and helped found Mystic Falls in the 1800s, that Damon himself was on the Founder's Council (actually, he was the youngest member in over 100 years) and that he hadn't attended college or university.

When Alaric heard that last part he was honestly surprised because Damon was obviously well-educated and quite clever.

He'd voiced his disbelief and Damon had sheepishly admitted, "The study in the boarding house is full of old books about Mystic Falls' history or Italian history and my Uncle Zach left a lot of his books behind. He went to university for a few different things and he'd kept all his textbooks; he left all of them when he moved away so after I moved back I started reading them when I got bored and I just absorbed a lot of it, you know?"

He'd cleared his throat then and looked up at Alaric somewhat shyly through his eyelashes, "You should come check them out sometime."

When the time came for them to leave (it was nearing 10:30 and, despite telling Stefan and Jeremy he'd be out late, he didn't want to be gone for too long) they argued over who would pay the bill before ultimately deciding to split it between them.

They headed out to the parking lot, shivering a little bit at the chilly air of the night, and Alaric offered to walk Damon to his car, not quite ready for the night to be over.

They walked in companionable silence until they reached the vehicle and Damon turned around to look up at the blonde, "I really had fun tonight, Ric. I don't think I've ever enjoyed talking to someone so much."

Alaric smiled warmly, "I had fun too, Damon. I hope this means that you'd like to do this again sometime?"

Damon's sapphire eyes sparkled in the moonlight and he nodded eagerly, "I'd love to!"

They stood there for a while longer basking in the quietness of the night and the soft glow of the street lamps. Eventually Damon checked his phone and, seeing that it was going on 11:00, sighed, "I told the kids I'd be out late but I should probably be heading back."

Alaric nodded understandingly.

Damon shifted nervously at the other's sudden silence, "Well... goodnight, I guess."

He turned to get into the car but a large hand on his bicep stopped him and turned him back to face the older man, "Ric, what- _!_ "

Warm lips crashed against Damon's, cutting off whatever he'd been about to say.

Damon could feel Alaric's coarse stubble rub against his pale skin and the warmth radiating off of his broad chest as he was pulled against it, allowing him to feel every inch of Alaric's long, muscular body.

He moaned into the kiss and happily brought his arms up to wrap around Alaric's neck as the taller male grasped his hips with those big hands.

They kissed for what felt like an eternity and when they eventually pulled apart they were both flushed and panting and Damon's lips were rosy red and puffy.

The younger man panted, "We definitely need to do that again. Preferably while naked."

Alaric choked out a sound caught halfway between a laugh and a moan and let his head fall into the crook of Damon's slender neck, "Very romantic Damon, well done."

Damon laughed breathily and Alaric couldn't resist pressing a tender kiss to his forehead as the smaller man said, "What can I say? I know what I like."

"I like you too, Damon. So what do you say we do this again next Friday?"

Damon nodded, "Sounds great. And I wasn't joking about the whole 'wanting to see you naked' thing."

Alaric nipped at his throat warningly and gently pushed him towards his car, "We'll talk about that later. Text me when you get home, alright?"

The dark-haired man blushed at the caring tone in Alaric's voice and he was grateful that he wouldn't be able to see it because of the darkness in the car, "Okay."

The teacher smiled and backed away from the car, waving as Damon pulled out and drove away.

Once the car was out of sight Alaric let his head fall back to gaze up at the stars. A warm, giddy feeling bubbled up in the pit of his stomach as the memory of Damon's azure eyes and soft pink lips popped into his head.

He grinned brightly in the darkness as he made his way to his own car, "Dammit... I am so screwed."

* * *

 **Aww Alaric and Damon's first date and first kiss! Sorry this one took me a while to get up, I've been focussing on finishing up another fanfic on another site for the past couple weeks. Vampire Diaries comes back in less than two weeks, I can't wait to see what this season has in store for us. Thanks to everyone who's faved, followed and reviewed this so far, I'm so glad that you're all enjoying the story. :)**

 **In the next chapter Jeremy finds out about Damon and Alaric's relationship, how will he react? Wait and see to find out!**


	8. Revelations

A month had passed since Alaric and Damon began dating.

They were in Alaric's apartment lying in bed, both naked under the sheets, and the larger man was stroking Damon's hair as they caught their breath.

"Hey Damon?"

His boyfriend shifted on his chest to get comfortable and let out a sleepy yawn, "Hmm?"

"What would you think about telling Jeremy about us?"

Ice blue eyes shot open and Damon leaned up on his elbows to lock eyes with the blonde, finding his steely blue gaze to be entirely serious.

Hope fluttered in his chest, "...Really?"

Alaric shrugged and pulled Damon back down into his chest, "Yeah, I mean we can't hide it forever. And I know that things have been going really well between you two in the last month so maybe now's a good time to tell him."

Damon sighed and began to trace random patterns on his lover's chest, "I hope that telling him, 'Hey Jer, how was your day? By the way your hot history teacher and I have been having sex for the past month and it's actually pretty serious between us."

Alaric rolled his eyes at Damon's typical snark and fondly tugged his dark locks, "If you could refrain from being, you know, _you_ for five minutes maybe you could explain it to him in a way that _won't_ scar him for life?"

Damon shrugged and smirked wickedly, "Where's the fun in that?"

Alaric laughed and kissed the top of the smaller man's head. He knew that underneath all of his sass Damon was truly worried about Jeremy's reaction to their relationship.

In the past month Jeremy and Damon's relationship had gone from cats and dogs to- as Damon described it- a big brother and little brother relationship. Jeremy, however, insisted that Damon acted more like a mom than an older brother when it came to him.

" _He keeps telling me to do my homework and clean my room, Alaric!"_

He chuckled softly as he remembered Jeremy complaining about Damon's motherly ways after class one day. He suspected that Jeremy truly enjoyed Damon's fussing for the complaints never contained any real heat, more like a subtle fondness and gratefulness for the older man's care.

Alaric pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked down at Damon, who was dozing off in his arms, "How does me coming over for dinner tomorrow sound?"

Damon lifted his head and smiled a sweet, sleepy smile, making Alaric's heart pound, "Does 8:00 work for you?"

"Sounds perfect; now let's get some sleep."

Damon groaned and shifted into a more comfortable position, his back pressed up against Alaric's chest, "Damn you sure wore me out good tonight, Ric. I'll definitely be feeling that in the morning."

Alaric barked a laugh even as his cheeks heated from the praise, "As always Damon, you say the sweetest things."

The younger man grinned cheekily into the pillow and mumbled, "'s why you like me though."

Alaric hid a grin in Damon's dark locks and pressed a kiss there, "Yeah, it is."

And with that the couple drifted off into a blissful sleep, contentedly wrapped up in each other's arms.

* * *

Saturday afternoon Damon was bustling around the kitchen preparing for dinner that night.

It was just going to be him, Alaric and Jeremy for dinner because Stefan and Elena had gone up to the Gilbert's family cabin with a bunch of their friends for the weekend. He had decided to do baked chicken with plenty of garlic and Italian seasons with some broccoli and cheese risotto and a Caesar salad on the side. He'd also made a special desert earlier in the day that he'd hidden in the basement fridge so that Jeremy wouldn't find it.

He was also making a pot of marinara sauce for dipping bread in as well as for the chicken if anyone wanted to, he could just leave it on the stove and stir it every so often until dinner. He was preparing the marinade for the chicken; Alaric wouldn't be arriving until 8:00 so that left about four and a half hours until he would be at the house, which was plenty of time for the chicken to marinate before he baked it for an hour or so. The risotto and salad wouldn't take long to whip up so he was going to make the salad after he finished the marinade and cook the risotto while the chicken baked.

Just as he was putting the sealed container of marinating chicken in the fridge Jeremy wandered into the room. He sat down at the island as Damon moved over to a large pot on the stove, checking on its contents.

"So what's the special occasion?"

Damon jumped at the sudden voice and turned around to face Jeremy with comically wide blue eyes, "Jesus, Jeremy! Make a little noise when you come in, why don't you?"

The teenager swallowed a laugh and held up his hands placatingly as his guardian took a deep breath to calm himself, "Sorry, sorry! Really though, what's all this for? I thought it was just you and me for dinner tonight."

Damon fidgeted a bit, "It is but... I have something to talk to you about, kid."

Noting the seriousness in Damon's tone Jeremy sat up straighter, tense and alert, "What is it? ...Have I done something wrong?"

"No, no, no! No Jer, it isn't anything bad I promise. It's just- I'm just kind of worried about what you're going to say, to be honest."

Now very confused and slightly concerned for his guardian Jeremy reached over the island and patted Damon's shoulder reassuringly, "Whatever it is Damon, just tell me. I promise I won't freak out."

The brunette gave him a sweet, tilted grin and Damon felt more at ease, "I've invited someone over for dinner to meet you. My boyfriend."

Jeremy's eyebrows shot up and understanding dawned in his eyes, "So _that's_ where you've been going every Friday! You've been going out with your boyfriend."

Damon nodded and grinned when the teen began bouncing in his seat, "Tell me about him! What does he do? Do I know him? Is he hot?"

Damon snickered and answered, "He's a teacher, he's taller than me, he's twenty-six, with dark blonde hair and incredible steely blue eyes and yes, he's hot. Very hot. And you do know him."

He looked up timidly through his thick lashes and watched the younger process everything he'd just said and put the pieces together.

There was a long pause before Jeremy spoke, "Alaric? You're dating Alaric Saltzman, my history teacher?"

Damon nodded meekly and waited with bated breath for the fifteen year old's reaction.

"Since when?"

"He uh- He asked me out that day he caught you with those pills and I got called into the school."

Jeremy nodded silently and internally Damon started to panic, worrying that Jeremy would freak out despite his earlier promise. He wouldn't blame the kid though; he had just dropped a pretty huge bomb on him.

The silence lasted for a few long minutes before Jeremy asked flatly, "Are you happy?"

"W-What?"

"Are you happy?"

Damon paused and thought about that.

 _Was_ he happy?

He thought back over the last month he'd spent with Alaric. Every Friday night date, spending the night's at the older man's loft (most of that time being spent naked in the blonde's bed), the shared bourbon, the regular phone calls and texts they shared throughout the week when they didn't have a chance to see each other...

"Yeah, I'm happy Jeremy."

Jeremy's blank expression split into a pleased grin and he rounded the island to hug the older man tightly, "That's all I wanted to hear."

Damon let out a relieved breath and hugged him back eagerly. As they hugged Damon suddenly realized that Jeremy had shot up quite a few inches and now towered over him- when the hell had that happened? After a few minutes he pulled away and ruffled Jeremy's hair before gently shoving him towards the bubbling pot on the stove.

"Stir that for me, will you? Now that you know what's going on I'm recruiting you to be my helper."

* * *

 **I'm back! Sorry that this one's a little shorter but the next two chapters are gonna be longer since they're the last ones. The next chapter will be dinner with Dalaric and Jeremy and then an epilogue. Thanks to everyone who's faved, followed and commented on this story so far, I really appreciate it and I'm glad you all are enjoying it!**

 **So what do you guys think of the new season so far? The flashforwards are messing with me because they're just leaving so many questions about what the hell happens in the three year timeskip. I love Damon just raising hell with the Heretics and Lily (and God do I hate Lily so much more this season and it's only been two episodes) but I'm worried that Ric's playing with fire with that stone. I was waiting for them to mention the sixth Heretic though, I'm excited to see what happens with him. I hope that maybe he's different from Lily and the others, I mean why else would he have gone off on his own rather than staying with the rest of them when they were brought back if they're supposed to be a family? Maybe he'll want to help Damon and the rest of the gang. And Enzo? Just no. _NO._ Bad Enzo. (If you haven't seen the episode yet, go watch it and you'll understand why I said that.)**


	9. Bonding

At eight o'clock sharp Alaric pulled into the driveway in front of the Salvatore boarding house. Suddenly feeling a bit nervous he quickly checked himself in the rear-view mirror before getting out and heading towards the front door. He'd wanted to bring something over as a thank you for dinner but Damon had insisted that all he needed to bring was himself.

When he rang the doorbell the door almost immediately flung open to reveal a smiling Jeremy, who looked like he'd been expecting him rather than surprised or confused as to why his history teacher was at his house on a Saturday night. Damon must've already spilled the beans that he was coming over and, most likely, that they were together.

"About time you got here Alaric! I'm starving and the food smells amazing but Damon kept saying we had to wait for you so he wouldn't let me taste anything. Don't tell him this but I snuck some sauce when he went upstairs to change a little while ago."

The last part Jeremy whispered to him conspiratorially, glancing over his shoulder nervously to make sure Damon hadn't come up behind him and heard what he'd said.

Alaric chuckled as he stepped into the house and he couldn't help but let out a low, impressed whistle when he got a good look at the interior. The house was very traditional with high ceilings and polished wood but still felt very cozy despite being so spacious.

Jeremy noticed his wandering gaze and commented, "It really is a lot to take in when you first see the place from the inside. I'd had no idea that houses like this till existed in Mystic Falls until I moved in here. Even with all of the modern additions this place still looks like it could've come straight out of the 1800s."

They walked through the study which allowed Alaric to catch a glance at the extensive library that Damon had mentioned on their first date, tall wooden shelves filled end to end with undoubtedly very old and valuable books collected by generations of Salvatores. He grinned when he caught sight of a liquor cabinet in the corner of the room, certain that it housed only bourbon.

When they entered the kitchen Damon was bent over in front of the oven obviously checking its contents; Alaric had to very consciously avert his gaze from his boyfriend's backside lest he ended up in a very awkward situation with one of his students in the room.

"Damon, Alaric's here! Can we eat now?"

Damon stood back up and turned around with a bright grin, "Hey Ric! Dinner's gonna be ready in about ten minutes so just take a seat. You want anything to drink?"

As they sat down Jeremy leaned across the island to grab a bun but was stopped when Damon hit his hand lightly with a dish towel.

"What did I just say?"

"C'mon Damon, I'm _starving!_ "

Damon huffed but caved under Jeremy's puppy eyes and pushed the bread basket towards him causing the brunet teen to let out a cheer and Alaric shoot his boyfriend a knowing grin.

For all his bravado and snark, Damon was a real softie at heart.

"I'll take a glass of bourbon, if the offer's still on the table?"

* * *

Damon put both Alaric and Jeremy to work bringing all the food from the kitchen to the dining room. He joined them a moment later with his and Jeremy's drinks in hand (a bourbon for him and Coke for Jeremy) only to find them both already in the middle of piling food high onto their plates.

Rather impressed Damon quipped, "And here I was thinking that maybe I'd made too much."

Both males' responses were muffled by the food in their mouths which made Damon simultaneously roll his eyes and feel unfathomably fond of both of them. The meal passed comfortably with idle conversation broken only when Alaric and Jeremy went for seconds, much to Damon's pleasure.

"Don't fill yourselves up too much; I made a cake for dessert."

Jeremy's eyes lit up and he hastily swallowed his mouthful of chicken, "Is it that triple chocolate one you were talking about the other day?"

When Damon nodded the teen let out an excited whoop and turned to Alaric, "Damon makes the most _amazing_ desserts Alaric, you have no idea. Don't get me wrong all his food is delicious but when I tried the lemon meringue pie he made a couple weeks ago I swear I'd died and gone to dessert heaven."

Damon flushed from the sudden praise, "I'm really not that good-"

Alaric cut him off, unwilling to allow his boyfriend to downplay his talent, "Damon I've only eaten your cooking once and I can confidently say that it's probably some of the best food I've ever eaten. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

The dark haired man shrugged, uncharacteristically shy, "After my mother died my father started working a lot more and didn't come home until dark most days. I decided to learn to cook at least a little so that Stefan wouldn't have to live off of takeout and frozen meals. I went to the library in town and took out a bunch of different books on cooking and recipe books and... I guess I just really took to it. I always found it relaxing, being able to lose myself in working on a recipe until I perfected it."

Alaric reached across the table and took one of Damon's smaller hands, giving him a gentle smile, "Well it definitely paid off."

The couple gazed at each other affectionately and the fuzzy atmosphere lingered until Jeremy cut in, "Oh my God! Damon I'm totally, 100% okay with you and Alaric dating but if you guys start making out in front of me I'm afraid I'm gonna have to leave."

Damon rolled his eyes and tossed a balled-up napkin at the teen's face, "Just wait until you bring a date over to the house, you little punk! Then I'll have my revenge."

"I'll never let you meet them then."

One slender dark eyebrow lifted and Damon smirked triumphantly, "You do remember that my boyfriend works at your school, right?"

The brunet froze and his eyes went comically wide in realization, "...Crap."

The couple couldn't help but burst into laughter at the dumbfounded look on the teen's face and it wasn't long before Jeremy's laughter joined theirs.

* * *

After the laughter calmed down Jeremy and Alaric made quick work of the remaining food on their plates; Damon didn't want the night to be over so soon and suggested that they watch a movie together.

"We can have the cake while we're watching."

Jeremy quickly chimed in, "Can I pick the movie?"

Damon chuckled, "Only if you help me with the dishes, kid."

The pair began to clear the table and Damon startled when Alaric also stood up and began collecting plates.

"You're our guest Ric, you don't have to help clean up."

The history teacher gave his boyfriend a dry look, "Damon you invited me over, you cooked dinner, made a dessert and I don't doubt cleaned up the house at some point. Helping with the dishes is the least I can do."

With that he snatched the plates out of a dumbstruck Damon's hands and joined Jeremy at the kitchen sink. He and the teen exchanged pleasant small talk as they rinsed the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher. As they worked Alaric snuck a glance over his shoulder and found Damon watching them with a soft look in his pale blue eyes.

It was a look that the history teacher recognized from lazy nights in loft curled up on the couch with Damon tucked against his chest and the times when Damon would talk about Stefan and Jeremy, even when it was about annoying things they'd done recently. It's a look that just screams fondness and _love._

The thought made Alaric's heart pound and he couldn't help but think, _"God, I love him so much."_

The realization caught him by surprise but not so much as the feeling of _rightness_ that settled in his chest afterwards. It was like the words had filled some part of him that he'd never realized was empty all these years.

He was in love with Damon Salvatore.

God, he was so fucked.

* * *

Between Jeremy and Alaric the dishes were finished in no time and were put away in their proper cabinets. Damon fetched the cake from the downstairs basement and served each of them a slice before cutting his own and following them into the den.

Damon and Alaric settled down on the couch as Jeremy claimed one of the armchairs as his own before he went over to the shelf to peruse the movie collection. The adults watched him mull over the choices for a minute or two before he selected one and popped it into the player, pressing play before he settled into his chair with his slice of cake in his lap.

Damon smiled when the menu for "The Avengers" came up and nudged Alaric gratefully when the older man leaned forward to use the remote to hit "Play Movie".

As the opening Marvel logo filled the big screen the three men settled in, all of them content and eager to watch some badass superhero action.

* * *

By the time Loki began his siege on New York City Jeremy had dozed off in the armchair, sprawled out with his mouth hanging open slightly.

Damon laughed quietly at the teen's awkward sleeping position but he reluctantly pulled himself from Alaric's side to go readjust him. If the kid stayed like that all night he'd undoubtedly wake up with a killer backache.

Alaric lazily rolled his gaze from the TV to watch his boyfriend adjust the sleeping teen and cover him with a blanket. When Damon sat back down next to him Alaric tugged him against his chest, curling an arm around the younger man's slender waist to keep him there.

Damon peered up but was only able to see his boyfriend's jaw from his position, "Not that I don't love it when you get handsy but might I ask why you're doing it right now? It's not like we can do anything really fun with the kid in the room."

Alaric didn't respond for a few moments, instead watching Loki and Thor's confrontation outside of Stark Tower, before he commented, "You really love Jeremy."

Damon sat up ramrod straight and stared at Alaric with wide electric blue eyes, "Where the hell did that come from?!"

Alaric shrugged and tugged at Damon's waist to pull the younger back down, "It's just... The way you look at him has changed over the past month. When I first met you, you looked at him like he was an annoying little brother. But now when you look at him it's similar to the way a father would look at his son."

Damon said nothing for a long while, long enough that Alaric began to worry that he'd stepped on a landmine with his observation. After a long silence- only broken by the sounds of The Hulk beating up the God of Lies- Damon finally, quietly, answered him.

"...Yeah, I love him. I didn't really mean to, y'know? I mean, when came here it wasn't because he wanted to, he _had_ to. And I had to take care of him because I promised I would. But somewhere along the line it became less of a chore to look after him and more of a _need_ to. Jeremy's a good kid, he's smart and funny and even though he can be a little shit sometimes he's probably the most sensible teenager I've ever met. And that's including my stick-in-the-mud little brother."

A small, genuine smile crossed Damon's lips as he glanced over at the sleeping brunet, "This place used to be just a house to me, somewhere for Stefan and I to stay. When I came back to Mystic Falls Stefan and I had drifted so far apart that we barely glanced at each other when we were here at the same time. But since Jeremy came it's started to feel more like a home, probably the best home I've ever had. Stefan and I actually hold conversations now and we can just... be brothers again. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed that."

Alaric smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, "I'm glad that you're happy, Damon."

Damon beamed up at him, eyes playful, "And don't forget: if Jeremy hadn't come to live here then I might never have met a certain tall, unbelievably sexy history teacher."

Alaric raised an eyebrow teasingly, "Oh? And who might that be?"

The smaller man laughed and kissed the blonde soundly, curling his arms around the older man's neck to pull him closer as they kissed. They kept it relatively tame though, neither of them wanted to risk Jeremy waking up and getting an eyeful of something that could potentially scar him for life. After a few minutes of making out they settled back into their original positions: Alaric leaning against the arm of the couch with Damon curled up against his front. They watched the closing moments of the movie in companionable silence before Damon's voice, nervous yet determined, broke it.

"I... I love you, Ric."

Alaric's eyes widened at the sudden admission but school his expression, knowing just how much nerve Damon had to have worked up to put himself out there like that first. Instead he simply tilted Damon's head up so he could kiss him long, slow and sweet to allow his boyfriend to feel the depth of his emotions.

When they broke apart Alaric whispered into the little space between their mouths, "I love you too, Damon."

* * *

 **So I'd like to apologize for the insane amount of time between this chapter and the last! DX For a while I decided not to update because there was an outbreak of mirror sites that were stealing works from this site a couple months ago- something that only I found out about from a reblogged post on a tumblr page I regularly visit- and I decided not to post until the sites were taken down, which they have been from what I've seen. (I recently verified that my works are solely here by typing in a quote from my stories in quotation marks in Google and the only result that came up for each story were the proper links to this site.) The other reason was that I just kind of got lost in other fandoms for a while, it happens to the best of us. XD (That reminds me, I can finally put my Jurassic World story up!) But I've got the next/final chapter done as well, so you won't have to wait much longer for this story to finally be completed!**

 **Thank you for being so patient in waiting for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! And thank you for everyone who has followed, faved, reviewed or has just plain read the story so far. See you all soon for the epilogue!**


	10. The family one chooses

_***2 years later***_

Damon woke up to sunlight shining directly in his eyes. He flinched slightly at the rude interruption of his sleep and rolled over until he was able to bury his face in his bedmate's chest to block out the light, incidentally waking the other man up as well.

The larger man groaned at the invasion of his space, his chest rumbling under Damon's ear, "Good morning to you too, Damon."

The younger man mumbled something unintelligible in response but he smiled against that broad chest when a large hand took his own and tugged it up to kiss his fingers affectionately. Finally he allowed his eyes to open and felt his heart leap in his chest when they caught Alaric's stormy blue gaze, full of love.

His voice was hoarse from sleep, "Morning, Ric."

Alaric watched him lazily stretch like a cat in the morning light, the dark silk sheets slipping down to his hips to reveal more tantalizing pale skin just above the curve of his backside. Sleepy blue eyes gazed up at him from beneath wild dark hair that had fallen into that pretty face, and a soft curved Damon's pink lips when Alaric pressed another kiss to the back of the hand he was still holding.

The feel of the cool metal band around his ring finger against his sleep-warm skin made Damon smile into his pillow. The band was simple, made of silver and just a little bit thinner than the matching one resting on Alaric's hand. Damon kissed his husband chastely (or as chastely as Damon could manage, which is to say not at all) before rolling out of bed and walking unashamedly naked over to their dresser, giving his husband an early morning treat.

The raven haired man shot a teasing grin over his shoulder as he pulled out a pair of black boxer briefs, "I'm gonna go take a shower. Care to join me, oh husband of mine?"

Even after two years of being with Damon- and eight months of that time being married to him- the teasing challenge in the younger man's eyes never failed to rile Alaric up and so the history teacher found himself following his husband into their bathroom within seconds. He barely paused to grab a pair of underwear for himself, far too focussed on the heated promise in Damon's eyes, and quickly joined the smaller man in the running shower intent on wiping the smirk of off Damon's face.

* * *

After a nice long shower (which was lengthened a couple other fun things) and getting dressed Damon and Alaric made their way downstairs to start on breakfast. Damon took a quick peek into Jeremy's room to find their adoptive son still asleep, entirely unsurprising since it was 8 o'clock on a Saturday and the teen didn't have to get up early for school.

Upon entering the kitchen Alaric went straight for the coffee maker as per usual, no one in the Salvatore/Saltzman/Gilbert house could function properly without at least one cup of coffee in the morning. As his husband filled the machine Damon rooted around in their fridge for ingredients before inevitably deciding on making a family-sized omelette, bacon and pancakes for breakfast.

Pancakes were a hallowed thing in their house...

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

 _About a week after Damon and Alaric had outed themselves as a couple to Jeremy the teen had joined Damon to do the weekly grocery shopping._

 _When Damon hadn't been looking Jeremy had tossed a box of pancake mix in the cart only for his guardian to immediately put it back on the shelf once he caught sight of it._

 _The teen moaned when Damon steered the cart out of the aisle, "C'mon Damon, can I get it please? I'll even pay for it myself."_

 _Damon shot him a deadpan look and gestured to the bag of flour located on the top shelf just out of his reach, "Grab the flour for me, kid. If you want pancakes I'll show you how to make them instead of using some crappy mix out of a box."_

" _Boxed mix isn't that bad."_

" _Trust me, these will be better."_

 _From that day on boxed pancake mix had been made a taboo item and they had homemade pancakes once a week, usually on the weekends. They were the lightest, fluffiest pancakes Jeremy had ever tasted and the teen had been hooked ever since._

 _ ***END FLASHBACK***_

Within ten minutes Damon was done mixing the pancake batter and he left Alaric in charge of cooking them while he prepared the omelette. As they worked a sleep-rumpled Jeremy wandered into the kitchen and planted himself in a seat at the island, raising his tired brown eyes to meet his adoptive dad's (although he insisted that Damon behaved more like a mom than anything).

"I smelled pancakes."

Damon snorted in amusement at the short answer as he took over pancake duty from his husband so that the older man could go pour a cup of coffee. The older man set the mug down in front of the seventeen year old and ruffled his hair in greeting, earning a sleepy whine of complaint from the boy.

"Morning, Jer."

The brunet took a swig from his mug as he used his free hand to try and fix his messy hair, "Morning, Ric."

As the pair launched into a conversation Damon couldn't help the small grin that crossed his lips, the smile only widening when Jeremy and Alaric broke into loud laughter after something Jeremy said. He startled slightly when a large hand patted him on the shoulder and he glanced over his shoulder to smile at Stefan as his little brother made a beeline for the coffeemaker.

He flipped over the pancakes and turned around to happily accept the mug Stefan held out to him before the younger Salvatore quickly hurried past Jeremy and Alaric, shouting morning greetings as he went- he was meeting up with some college friends for a group study session that morning. Damon took a sip of his coffee and sighed contentedly at the taste, Stefan had remembered to add sugar for him.

He snickered when he heard Stefan curse as he rushed out of the house, slamming the door behind him- little brother was going to be late!

Oh how he loved Saturday mornings.

* * *

The remainder of their little family chatted comfortably as Damon started piling pancakes onto a plate and Alaric began frying off the bacon while the omelette cooked in another pan.

Jeremy had just started is final year of high school, his grades had only gone up after the disastrous year when his parents died and he now had his eye on a university just outside of Mystic Falls where he could study art. Damon and Alaric had thoroughly encouraged Jeremy to pursue his passion after Damon had received a call from the school during Jeremy's junior year, telling Damon how proud they were of Jeremy for placing first in a district-wide art competition.

The teen had been so grateful for their wholehearted support and from then on had always made a point to bring them (as well as Stefan, Elena and Jenna) to any art shows he participated in.

Another thing that had also drastically changed over the past couple of years was Jeremy's social standing at Mystic Falls High. In his junior year he had inexplicably become friends with the then-senior Tyler Lockwood, the mayor's son and ironically one of the boys Jeremy had almost gotten expelled for fighting with as a sophomore.

It was three months before Damon and Alaric had learned that their "friendship" was actually much more than just that.

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

 _One Sunday morning Alaric had decided to get up early in order to finish grading some papers he had to hand out the following Monday; imagine his surprise when, at just after 6, Tyler Lockwood came creeping down the stairs of the former boarding house with sneakers in hand and his shirt rumpled._

 _Just as the teen had reached the front door the history teacher had loudly cleared his throat, making the young man jump almost a foot in the air from the shock._

 _Slowly the football player turned around and had given his teacher a sheepish grin, "Uh... m-morning, Mr. Saltzman. I was just-"_

" _I think I have a pretty good idea of what you were doing, Mr. Lockwood."_

 _Red crept across the teenager's cheeks and Alaric heaved a sigh, "You want a cup of coffee? I think we have a couple things we need to discuss."_

 _For a second Tyler tried to fumble for an excuse before he gave up and let out a resigned sigh of his own, "I'll take the coffee if wouldn't mind, sir."_

 _ ***END FLASHBACK***_

Of course Alaric had woken up Damon (who was just his fiancé at the time) who had in turn dragged a red-faced Jeremy out of bed down to the living room, depositing him on the couch next to Tyler. They (well, Alaric mostly) gave the teenagers a long lecture about them being in the house together without either of them knowing as well as the seriousness of Tyler not telling his parents that he would be spending the night somewhere else.

Damon had gotten the final word in, eyes both serious and teasing at the same time, "And you two better have been using protection!"

Jeremy had made an embarrassed sound and buried his face in his hands and Tyler's cheeks turned pink as Alaric has stared wide-eyed at his lover, questioning his sanity.

Damon despite all his teasing had firmly laid down ground rules for when Tyler came over: Jeremy's bedroom door was to be kept open if they went into his room, no blasting loud music so that they couldn't hear them, to always make sure that either one of them knew if Tyler was coming over and if Tyler were to stay the night, he'd do so in a guest bedroom.

The young couple had found the arrangement more than fair and after that had all been smoothed over it had quickly become tradition for Tyler to join them for dinner at least once a week . Damon had nearly died laughing at Stefan's baffled expression when his teammate had shown up for dinner the first time.

* * *

After eating plenty of pancakes Jeremy took a sip of his freshly poured glass of orange juice, "Tyler's coming over later and we're gonna go out for a bit, is it alright if he stays over tonight?"

Damon nodded as he swallowed a bite of omelette, "Of course he can. We're having burgers tonight so I'll make a couple extra since the three of you eat like horses."

Alaric chuckled and smiled at Jeremy, "You guys gonna do anything special today?"

"There's a movie Ty wants to go see, some action/thriller thing I can't remember the name of."

They finished their breakfast and Damon began collecting their dishes before Jeremy quickly scrambled to his feet and offered to do it himself. The older man happily allowed his adopted son to take the plates from his hands and watched him head into the kitchen while humming under his breath.

The raven haired man startled when he was pulled against a warm, broad chest but tilted his head back to kiss his husband's stubbly jaw as he leaned back into him.

"I love you, Ric."

Strong arms squeezed him tenderly, "I love you too, Damon."

From the kitchen there was a loud splash before Jeremy shouted, "Love you guys too!"

The pair laughed but paused when Jeremy called out hesitantly, "Um... can someone grab the mop? I kinda spilt water all over the floor."

Laughter filled the house once again.

* * *

 **And that's all she wrote folks! XD It took me quite some time but I finally delivered the end of this fic to all of you lovely people. I'm kinda sad to see it go, this was my first Vampire Diaries fic and I think it's the longest fic I've ever written. But I'm very glad that so many people enjoyed the story and took the time to read each and every chapter and waited for me to update even through the long gap that I left between chapters 8 and 9.**

 **So again thank you to everyone who's faved, reviewed, followed and read the story I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did! Maybe I'll do more Dalaric in the future, who knows?**


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